FDMT On Fire at Township Meeting

Fire Department of Montgomery Township had a pretty good night at the supervisors meeting Monday.

First, the combination department received a $5,000 donation from Teva Pharmaceuticals. Then, it grew its fire police force by two with the swearing-ins of volunteers Jane Weinhardt and Mike Goldberg.

The final acclaim for FDMT involved 10 unique, but necessary, pieces of fire livesaving equipment—for our four-legged friends.

Stray Cat Blues, the nonprofit non-kill feline shelter, which has a main display at PetSmart in Montgomery Township, donated 10 pet oxygen masks to FDMT. 

This means FDMT is also WAG’N O2 FUR LIFE. 

That is, the department, on behalf of Stray Cat Blues, has enrolled in the Wag’N O2 Fur Life program. The nationwide program is a campaign to help first responders acquire lifesaving and rescue equipment to save the lives of pets.

It happens more than you think.

"Our last couple of fires in the township all involved the rescue of cats. We have firefighters that pulled out five cats and one dog from one of most recent fires," said FDMT Chief Bill Wiegman. "And we spend a couple nights over in the Montgomery Glen development pulling cats out of sewers. There’s definitely a need for these masks."

Wiegman said the masks will be equipped in each frontline fire apparatus and each command vehicle, including the fire police unit and special service unit.

The kits consist of oxygen masks, air tubes, a kennel lead, incident report forms and an instructional DVD.

Stray Cat Blues Board Vice President Vira Katolik said she reached out to a couple of fire stations in October 2012 about the pet oxygen mask donations.

"Montgomery Township was the only one that got back to me," she said. "We were more than happy to make the donation. We wanted to keep it local."

Katoli said Stray Cat Blues receives funding from private donors, endowments, fundraisers, an annual silent auction, and community outreach. 

The masks, she said, are different sizes to accommodate the short and long muzzles of dogs and the faces of cats.

"It will fit cats, dogs, pigs," Katolik told supervisors. 

Sorry, birds and fish.

The volunteerism of Weinhardt and Goldberg brings the fire police membership up to 11, said FDMT Fire Police Captain Rob Bailey.

Fire police duties, he said, include scene control to keep people trying to get back in homes or down a street where an incident has occurred away from the area, and to divert drivers away from accidents and get them on a road to continue safe travel.

"We cannot arrest; we can only detain," Bailey said. "We cannot write tickets."

Bailey said the FDMT Fire Police is always looking for more volunteers.

"I think it's a more stressful job than firefighting," said Wiegman. "You are dealing with the public all the time. Firemen have set tasks and work as team. Fire police work as a team, but they also have to be solo in the community."

Wiegman said the FDMT Fire Police are "hands down" the best-trained and best-operated fire police unit in the area.

"They control 309, 463 and 202, without flaws," he said.

FDMT Fire Police members are Lieutenant Bill Adams, Maryanne Mogensen, Greg Fitzgerald, Rob Bailey, Stacy Bailey, Joel Silver, Matt Palm, Franklin Ha, Bud Rhoads, Weinhardt, and Goldberg.

With the $5,000 donation from Teva Pharmaceuticals, Lesniak said FDMT will purchase five Case Commander Incident Command Boards.

"We reached out to Teva asking about community grants they did have. Teva decided FDMT was the worthy recipient of a grant for $5,000," he said.

Lesniak said Teva is not only committed to improving global healthcare, but also investing in and supporting the communities in which they serve. 

The command boards track resources during emergency incidents. The case commander, according to a board summary, is part of a larger command, control and accountability system that the FDMT and Department of Fire Services are working together to develop.

Chairwoman Candyce Chimera said it was good to know FDMT was worthy of the donation.

"Teva was great with the 300th Anniversary Committee. They gave us $5,000 as well," said Chairman Joe Walsh.

Supervisors approved acceptance of the grant unanimously.